Roger Prades1, Shauna L, Quinn2,
Ernest Giralt1, Erik M. Shapiro2,3
1Department of Chemistry,
IRB Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; 2Department of Diagnostic Radiology,
Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; 3Department
of Biomedical Engineering, Yale University, New Haven, CT, United States
Here we describe the use of Poly(maleic anhydride alt-1-ter-octadecene) (PMAO) as a coating agent for MnO nanoparticles in order to make the particles stable in aqueous buffer and subsequent conjugation of the surface nanoparticle (NPs) with targeting moieties, in this case with TAT peptide, a high efficient cell-penetrating peptide. We demonstrate how these PMAO coated manganese oxide particle have a low r1 molar relaxivity as intact particles and elicit high r1 molar relaxivity upon dissolution in acidic media. We then demonstrate the capability of these conjugated particles as a contrast agent for in vivo liver imaging.
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